Poltergeist Rumored to Be Getting Revived by MGM

The 1982 Poltergeist is considered by many to be a seminal haunted house movie, which earned multiple follow-up installments, but after almost a decade of silence regarding the franchise, a new rumor claims that MGM could be prioritizing a new take on the material. The last entry into the series was 2015’s reboot from filmmaker Gil Kenan, but given how evocative the name alone is in the world of horror, it seems like a revival of the property is long overdue. The rumors, however, note that Steven Spielberg’s involvement in the original film could complicate how the rights to the new project would be negotiated.

On a recent episode of The Hot Mic podcast, when discussing the merger between Amazon Studios and MGM, one host posited that a Poltergeist project could become a priority, while also admitting that it was “complicated by the fact that Spielberg would likely need to be involved in that. Poltergeist, what is the hottest genre right now? Horror. There’s nothing hotter than horror, and MGM comes with, I’m sure they’ve got all kinds of stuff, I don’t know if they have [The Amityville Horror] or whatever, but Poltergeist is their big horror thing and so I think that they’re going to take full advantage of that.”

While Spielberg’s connection to the material could understandably cause some complications, it’s worth noting that the filmmaker himself intended to direct the movie back in 1982, but his schedule with E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial prevented that from happening, yet he still collaborated heavily with director Tobe Hooper to bring it to life. In that sense, it’s possible that Spielberg could want to take a more notable role in bringing a new take on the material to life in some capacity.

In addition to the original movie inspiring two sequels and a remake, it also inspired four seasons of the TV show Poltergeist: The Legacy. With the iconic The Exorcist recently being reimagined as two seasons of a TV series and with Blumhouse Productions developing a revival of that property, it’s possible that Poltergeist could be the next iconic property to get revived for a new generation.

Reports previously emerged that Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo were reviving the film, though in 2019, Joe Russo may have shot down those talks.

“That was something that we were talking about, I don’t know that that ultimately came to fruition, but it was something that I loved as a kid,” Russo revealed with Talks at Google. “I was interested in turning it into a television series.”  

Stay tuned for possible updates on the Poltergeist franchise.

Would you like to see the franchise get a revival? Let us know in the comments below or contact Patrick Cavanaugh directly on Twitter to talk all things horror and Star Wars!